1. Field of the Invention
Improved limb support apparatus usable on wheel chairs and the like which is slidable and rotatable to provide easy manuverability of the limb support from a support position to a stowage position.
2. History of the Prior Art
Various limb support devices and apparatus have long been utilized in conjunction with wheel chairs and other patient handling devices to support a patient's leg or foot. Because such devices are typically attached to a wheel chair or other patient support devices wherein the patient must be placed, it is necessary that the limb support apparatus allow the limb support surface to be moved from a support position to a stowage position. In the support position the limb support surface it placed such that it will bear the weight of the patient's foot or leg calf. In a stowage position, the limb support surface is positioned so that it is out of the way of the patient so that he can be placed in the wheel chair or other device without interference from the limb support surface.
In presently available apparatus, the limb support surface is typically moved from its support to its stowage position by rotating it about a fixed pivot point. In certain devices this movement requires that the limb support surface and its supporting apparatus be moved axially as well as pivotally from its stowage to its support position. For instance, when a wheel chair is being readied for a patient's use, the limb support surface is in its stowage position. The patient is then placed in the wheel chair and the limb support surface is moved to its support position beneath the patient's foot or leg calf. Present designs are inadequate in this regard because it is usually necessary to lift or move the patient's leg or foot out of its normal at-rest position while the limb support surface is moved from its stowage to its support position. Such movement may be very detrimental or dangerous in those instances wherein the patient's hip, leg or foot are injured or are in otherwise precarious conditions. In such situations it is desirable that no movement of the patient's leg or foot be made.
The undesirable situation noted above arises specifically in those instances wherein the design of the limb support apparatus only provides for pivoting of the support from a stowage to a support position. Since the limb support surface must pivot through a ninety degree angle or more to a position beneath the patient's foot or calf, there are no means for by-passing the patient's leg in making this position transition. Apparatus is presently unavailable which would allow a limb support surface to be moved from a stowage to a support position through a series of steps which would avoid movement of the patient's limb.
In addition to the detrimental effects resulting to the patient from the pivotal movement of a limb support surface from a stowage to a support position, many existing devices provide only a passive stowage of the limb support surface. In these instances, the limb support surface may merely hang loosely, generally beneath and behind the patient's limb position. In such instances, the freely movable limb support surface may randomly pivot to a position where it impacts or otherwise interferes with the patient's leg or other body portion. Thus, existing apparatus may not provide suitable means for fixedly retaining the limb support surface in a stowage position while at the same time allowing it to be safely moved from a stowage to a support position by simple hand motion.